Memorial Stadium unveils new concessions menu and rules for booze

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Memorial Stadium hosted a tasting event Wednesday for the launch of its new menu.

The new food items are a collaboration between the stadium’s new vendor, Aramark, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s food and beverage department.

Spokesman Tim Witkowski said Aramark analyzed data from previous game days to ensure fan favorites weren’t going anywhere.

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Over about 2½ months, the team held tasting sessions with people from the athletic department.

Their feedback:

“‘Don’t touch the pizza, don’t touch the red dog, don’t touch the Runza,'” Witkowski said. “Got it! We really took a lot of proven successful items and put a Nebraska spin on it.”

One example is the famous red dog, a half-pound hot dog that can now be topped with a Nebraska corn dip.

Inspired by the red dog, Aramark created the red burger, which is an Omaha Steaks beef patty in a bun that is dyed red for Memorial Stadium.

The stadium will be selling these burgers in a box shaped like a traditional game hat.

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Another unique item is a savory version of a sundae created by head chef Troy Tornabeni.

Instead of ice cream, he fills a cinnamon cone with beef, cheese and sauce, which is then topped with a cherry tomato.

This all comes along with the highly anticipated introduction of alcohol, which Witkoski says Aramark is an expert on.

“Aramark Sports and Entertainment wrote the book,” he said. “We successfully serve alcoholic beverages at 22 other collegiate events around the country.”

He said it’s been a long process to get the stadium set up for this addition.

“A lot of equipment to get in,” he said. “You’ll see a lot of coolers, a lot of beer portables.”

Aramark expects to sell 121,000 cold beers during the home opener and is setting up 19 walk-through stands to ensure fans can purchase a drink and get back to their seat in no time.

Rules for alcohol are also being implemented, such as a two-beer limit per transaction and a 100% carding policy.

Guests of drinking age should have their IDs ready to go.

Witkowski added that the goal is to serve responsibly, joking that Aramark’s slogan will be, “Big Red. Bigger responsibility.”

Aramark also addressed the concession hawker program, which UNL previously said was coming to an end.

But Witkowski said that’s not the case; Aramark is simply making changes to the hawking criteria, such as raising the minimum age from 13 to 16.